Today held great promise as the perfect day to hike Camel’s Hump for the first time this summer. The mountain, in profile, also appears above in the header to this blog. Walking out the front door I was greeted by a lovely Morning Glory (Ipomoea). Nice way to start the day.
What a way to start a glorious morning!
Rob and I met at 7:00am with 59F and blue skies. The hike up was even warmer—in t-shirts and shorts, a gentle pace and no deadlines. As we approached the top it became obvious the clouds had not yet cleared.
On a section of bedrock near the top of Camel’s Hump are carved “CCC 1935.” Fascinating to speculate who from the Civilian Conservation Corp was there and what they were seeing.
We added extra layers and climbed on undaunted. The temperature on top was in the low 50s with strong winds. No worries! An unhurried lunch. Some of the same alpine plants we’d seen last week in Alaska.
A bit of Mountain Sandwort (Arenaria montana) nearly done blooming in a crevice in the mountain top’s bedrock.
There were also lovely conversations with others who’d made the hike, and then the sun peaked through briefly before things closed in.
A bit of blue sky and the Green Mountains show through the clouds, even if only for a brief time.
Down we went, back in t-shirts again half-way down. Lots of folks headed up, probably to clearing skies. Five hours after we began, it felt good to reach the bottom. No glaciers or bears on this trip! Nice to be home and in familiar—and gorgeous—surroundings.
Still Learning To See 
Had to smile–I kept thinking of the John Denver lyrics:
“Hey it’s good to be back home again – yes it is
Sometimes this old farm [mountain] feels like a long-lost friend
Yes ’n’ hey, it’s good to be back home again.”
Places really CAN be “friends”–and how great that you have others who share your love of them. I really like the lichen on the rocks photograph–so many subtle hues and shades. Sometimes the eye can miss those quieter colors–but YOUR eyes never do 🙂
Had the light not closed off so quickly there would have been more photographs for the lichens.